The Life of Annabelle Barnes
by Castiel Angel Heart
Summary: What if Bucky had a younger sister who had feelings for Steve? I'm bad with summaries, but if you like the idea of Steve/OC check it out
1. Info on Annabelle

Captain America: Annabelle's Story Info

**~Disclaimer:** Captain America and anything else related to the Marvel films/comics obviously belong to Marvel and others involved in that corporate stuff; I'm just playing with the characters for no personal gain so please don't sue me because I haven't got the money for a lawyer…

Character Description

**Name:** Annabelle 'Anna' Barnes

**Nicknames:** Anna, Bells, and Angel (by Bucky and Steve)

**Age:** Two years younger than Steve (Messing with age so Bucky is older than Steve)

**Birthday:** May 4

**Physical Description:**

**Hair:** Wavy, dark auburn

**Eyes: ** Blue-green, shift colors and shades depending on mood

**Height:** Same as Steve before he became Captain America

**Body Type:** Thin athletic build, average

**Personality:** Optimistic, quiet around unfamiliar individuals until she has the chance to determine how trustworthy they are, good instinct and always trusts her gut feeling about people and situations, loyal ally and aggressive when the situation calls for it.

**Other:** Has strong feelings for Steve Rogers which may cloud her judgment in dangerous situations. Is a mutant, abilities manifested at age fourteen; can sprout gray angel wings from her back that are extremely painful to retract and possesses a heal factor. Biggest fear is being left alone in the world.

**AN: ** This is the first fanfiction I've ever actually posted and I have a few chapters planned out already, but I'm not going to post anything more if no one is interested. I currently don't have anyone editing my stories but me, so I apologize if you think it is crap, constructive critisizm is welcome, flames will be given to Loki to fuel his rage.


	2. Chapter 1: Bully

**AN:** _The first two chapters are flashbacks while Steve is unconscious and are written in past tense, the rest will be in present tense._

**Chapter One: Bully**

Annabelle and Steve sat in the theater and waited for the show to start. The screen was currently showing clips of the war in an attempt to get more men to enlist. Sensing Steve's frustration due to his latest rejection from the military, Anna reached out and took his hand in her own to comfort him. He looked to her and their eyes locked as she gave him an encouraging smile causing him to show a small smile of his own. They were broken out of their stare by a man shouting at the screen, causing their attention to shift to him.

"Come on, start the movie already!"

Glancing at her friend, Anna recognized the look of determination on his face and the fire in his eyes. She reached out for his arm to calm him, but it was too late.

"C'mon man, have some respect." Steve retorted.

The man stood up, towering over the two friends and causing Steve to stand, not about to be intimidated. Anna had a feeling that things weren't going to go over well; her suspicions were confirmed when the larger male began dragging her friend out of the theater, into the alley and she quickly followed.

As soon as they got outside, Steve was knocked to the ground by a well-placed punch to the jaw. Anna quickly moved to her friend's defense.

"Leave him alone you jerk!" She cried before kicking him in the shin.

Most other men would have likely pushed her to the side and continued beating her friend, but this man had the audacity to backhand her across the face causing her to fall to the ground, stunned. Steve immediately jumped to his feet as the man moved to kick his fallen friend.

"Don't you touch her!" He shouted in a rage, getting in the way of the other males access to his friend.

Anna was in shock, first at being hit, then at Steve's reaction. She sat watching in stunned silence as he was knocked around by the man that was almost twice his size. She heard quick footsteps and looked up in time to see her brother grab the man's arm.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Bucky asked in a mocking tone. The man immediately tried to land a hit on Bucky, but was quickly on the ground.

"And if you ever so much as look at my sister again, you will be sorry!" He threatened as the man got up and ran off. Bucky turned and helped his best friend to his feet before approaching his sister, concern clear on his face as he helped her up.

"You alright sis?"

"I'll be fine Bucky."

Anna turned her face away and her brother narrowed his eyes at her before gently grabbing her chin and turning her face so that he could see the red hand print on her cheek.

"He hit you?"

"I'll be alright, it'll be gone in a few minutes anyway." She reasoned, wincing at his anger and glancing at Steve who was standing beside her brother.

Bucky chuckled softly at her before releasing her chin and turning to his friend. "I get why you were trying so hard buddy, but you really gotta stop picking fights."

Anna sighed softly and trailed behind the boys as they walked out of the alley only catching parts of their conversation. She was brought back into focus as Bucky directed a question at her from his spot to her left, causing her to look up at him.

"What do you think Angel? You wanna join in?"

"Join in what?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side with a confused stare.

The boys chuckled in response and her brother ruffled her wavy hair. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted before looking to her right for Steve to answer her. "The World Fair, then out dancing with a couple dames Bucky picked up."

"Sure, could be fun."


	3. Chapter 2: Be Careful, Okay?

**Chapter Two: Be Careful, Okay?**

Steve knocked on the door to the small townhouse that Bucky and Anna shared. The door slowly opened, revealing a relieved looking Anna, but the relief was quickly replaced by shock. She stared up at his now tall and muscular form, startled at the change in his appearance.

"It's really me Angel, I promise." He whispered softly.

"How did you... When did you… Wow, you're so…"

"Different?" Steve asked in a cautious tone.

'I was gonna go with insanely attractive, but…' Anna thought to herself before responding in a breathless tone, "Sure, let's go with that."

"I know you're probably freaked out right now, but I had to see you before I went on my tour." He informed in a soft tone before reaching out to cradle her cheek in his hand and tilting her head up so that he could look her in the eye. As they stared into each other's eyes, their faces slowly moved closer to each other. When they were inches away from a lip lock a car horn sounded and they quickly pulled away. Anna's eyes became distant which caused Steve to grow slightly worried and nervous, as he always did when she got that sad, far off look in her eyes.

"Where are you going?"

"Promoting bonds, I can get you a ticket to my first show if you want?"

"And after that?"

"Europe, but it's just to raise troop morale, not to fight." Steve answered in a miserable tone.

"Oh…listen Steve you know I will always support you, but if I go to your show I don't think I'll be able to handle it. It's hard enough not being able to contact Bucky, but now you'll just up and leave me too? I just..."

"Angel stop. You know that I would never abandon you and neither would Bucky. I hate that I'm leaving you behind but I have to do this. I would never hurt you, you know that."

Anna looked away from him for a moment before looking up at him again, sighing sadly before responding with tears in her eyes. "I know, but I'm scared Steve, for you and Bucky and all the others out there who have to fight. I just need you to promise me that you'll be careful, okay?"

"Annabelle Barnes, I promise you that I will take care of myself and I will come back to you." He swore to her before wiping away her tears and pulling her into a tight hug, but was soon interrupted when the same car horn sounds.

Anna pulled away and smiled at him through her tears, "You gotta go huh?"

"I do, but you know I'm coming back for you." Steve stated before pressing his lips to her forehead and releasing her from his strong arms. Anna watched as Steve hurried down the front steps and got in the car, sighing sadly as it drove away and watched it until it turned the corner and disappeared from her sight before going back inside her apartment.

Meanwhile, inside the car, Peggy turned to Steve with a smirk and asked "Longest conversation with a woman, hm?"

Steve blushed in response.


	4. Chapter 3: Awake

**AN:** _I would like to thank When I Make It Shine, for bringing to my attention the fact that some of my readers may be questioning Anna's healing factor and I thought that I should explain. Her healing factor is very much like Wolverine from X-men, which is why she is still alive and looking like she hasn't aged. Just to clear that up for everyone and will try to edit that into the info chapter when I get the chance._

**Chapter Three: Awake**

Steve sits next to Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the backseat of a large black SUV on the way back to headquarters after the whole Time Square fiasco. As he looks around outside he remembers all that he has been through, his mind immediately flashing to his now dead best friend Bucky Barnes and his sister Annabelle.

"Angel." He whispers to himself, causing Fury to glance at him and raise an eyebrow. "I need to know where Annabelle Barnes is."

"She's waiting for you at HQ, she might not be what you'd expect." Fury replies with a smirk. Steve glances at him with furrowed brows before calmly waiting to return to the building he had been so quick to flee from.

When they reach the building, the men get out and quickly ascend the steps to enter the large building. Looking around for an old woman, Steve is shocked to see a very familiar face emerge from the crowd of agents.

"I warned you," Fury states before addressing the woman standing a few feet away, "Ms. Barnes, I believe you can take over from here."

She nods and takes a few steps toward her friend as Fury walks away. Steve stares at her in shock for a moment before being pulled into a tight hug. "A little late on your promise, aren't you Captain? Welcome home." She whispers against his chest as tears fall from her eyes.

**AN:** _I apologize for the short chapter, but it seemed like the most logical place to cut off. I also apologize if I don't update for a while, but I'm playing with a few ideas to bridge the gap between Captain America and The Avengers, if anyone has any ideas or constructive criticism PM me or review._


	5. Chapter 4: Catching Up

**AN:** _This chapter reveals some more about Anna and gives some insight into how much she cares about her friends. I'm trying to give her character a little bit more depth, because I don't want to end up making this lame Mary Sue who always needs to be rescued, I want to make her more like Sif, Peggy, or Black Widow; she cares about her friends, but she's not weak. I also wanted to show that Steve wasn't awkward around all women and show his more goofy side by giving him someone to have fun with now that Bucky is gone, get past his serious exterior. Anyway, tell me what you think and thanks to all those who have added my story to Alerts/Favorites or reviewed._

**Chapter Four: Catching Up**

A tall, muscular man with short blonde hair stands looking out the window to his new room with his back to the door, behind him an auburn haired woman gently knocks on the open door before entering.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've been better, but I gotta adjust sometime, right?" Steve states before he turns to look at her and is stunned to find her soft looking gray wings out.

"You should see your face!" She giggles before coming further into the room to stand beside him. He eyes her wings before looking down at her face to see her staring up at him. He smiles softly at her causing her eyes to light up before a grin spreads across her face. Both glance out the window to watch a bird fly past before Anna looks back at him and analyzes his face as he stares out at the tall buildings in a city he once knew.

"So, what else have I missed? Books can only tell me so much." Steve jokes after a few moments of peaceful silence. His companion giggles softly, causing a grin to spread across the Super Soldier's face. She motions for them to sit on the bed, so he waits for her to get comfortable and rearrange her wings before taking his place at her side.

"What do you want to know?"

"What you've been doing while I was gone would be a good start." Steve states, his voice and body language turning serious and causing her to sigh reluctantly.

"Well, when you first left I didn't know what to do with myself. I spent a few weeks sulking before I started leaving the house to go somewhere other than work or to get food." She pauses to take a shaky breath before continuing, "After the war was over, Peggy was the one who came to tell me about you and about what happened to Bucky. She explained everything and we became friends. Over time she noticed that I didn't seem to be aging, which is what brought me to S.H.I.E.L.D. and I've been here ever since."

"What about dating; is there anyone I need to take care of?" Steve asks before jokingly flexing his biceps, causing Anna to burst into hysterical laughter. When she finally calms down she takes a few deep breaths and clears her throat before responding.

"Me go on dates? No, never…honestly though, I went out with a few guys, but it never went past three dates because I always compared them to someone else." She whispers before looking away.

"…..So I don't get to beat the snot out of anyone?" He asks with a pout, causing her to smile and shake her head. Steve grins, seeing her smile just made the world seem a lot brighter to him and he wonders why he never noticed it before.

**AN:** _Sorry that it's another short chapter, but it's all I have at the moment. Reviews are much appreciated._


	6. Chapter 5: Hearing About Stark

**AN:**_ Ever wonder why Steve seems so hostile toward Tony Stark? There are several possible reasons, but I like my idea, so here goes nothing. I'll probably make a one shot later of the "meeting" between Tony and Anna, but for now I'm sure you can all come up with something that he could do to get under her skin. My compliments to LeiraStarofTheSea, because she had the same idea about the Tony action-Steve reaction._

**Chapter Five: Everyday Life/Hearing about Stark**

~_After paying a visit to the ever frustrating and self-absorbed playboy Tony Stark, Anna decides that she needs a break and goes in search of her ever elusive best friend, Captain America_~

Anna walks into the 1940s style gym that she had helped create for Steve at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, having searched the rest of the building and come up empty handed. There she finds the infamous Captain America punching away in his usual spot. She takes a calming breath because sometimes just being around her best friend calmed her down. A small contented sigh escapes her as she slowly approaches, knowing that the mirrored walls prevent her from sneaking up on him.

"You know, sometimes I feel like you spend more time with that punching bag than you spend with me."

"Gotta stay in shape." Steve replies with a shrug before turning to her and starting to remove his hand wraps. Once he's done he looks up at her and tenses before looking her over after seeing her irritated facial expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Had to pay a 'visit' to Stark, he did something The Boss man didn't like and since both Black Widow and Hawkeye are on missions I had to deal with it." Anna responds her irritation clear in her tone.

"Howard used to do things like that too, always pushing his boundaries." Steve states with a small smile, remembering something from the war no doubt.

"Yes, but Howard wasn't as much of a womanizer as his son, at least he had respect for women, Tony just drops them like last week's trash. He never really had Howard around to teach him any different though. He was either building up his company or doing work for S.H.I.E.L.D. then he died when Tony was nineteen so he just…continued the way he knew."

"What did he do to get under your skin?" Steve asks with a raised eyebrow.

"The man doesn't know when to stop. I get tired of him, with his wandering eyes and wandering hands." She rants.

"His what? Did he touch you? Do you want me to hurt him 'cus I can hurt him." Steve threatens as he starts pacing, causing his best friend to watch him worriedly.

"Steve, I'm fine, you know I can handle myself," she starts as he continues pacing, "Hey! Just calm down alright. I'm fine so it doesn't matter."

"You don't understand Angel; he doesn't have the right to touch you in any…perverted way. He should respect women; you don't deserve to be treated that way!" Steve rants, his entire body tensed like a cat ready to pounce. Once again in shock at his response, like she had been so many years ago, Annabelle Barnes can do nothing but stare as her closest friend continues to pace back and forth.

"Steve just calm down alright, all this pacing isn't gonna do you any good." Steve pauses in his pacing so that he can stare at her before he sighs and moves to stand in front of her.

"I know there's nothing I can do right now, but I can't help worrying about you. Did he do anything else I need to know about?"

"He likes to call me Bells, mostly because he knows that it ticks me off." She mumbles while looking at the ground.

"Because of Bucky, right? He used to call you that when he was worried about you." Steve whispers as sadness fills his eyes.

"Stark doesn't know that, so I know I shouldn't be mad at him, but I can't help it. It's been over seventy years since he died, but it still hurts to think about him. No one ever told me the whole story either, and you never told anyone so I don't even know how he died." She whispers as tears fall from her eyes and her body shakes as she holds back sobs. Steve reaches out and gently takes her face in his large hands, tilting her head up so that he can look her in the eye and wiping away her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

"How much did they tell you?" He questions, his throat feeling tight at the thought that he would have to tell her everything that had happened to her brother. He had been avoiding talking about the war and what had happened over seas as much as he possibly could in the time since he had woken up.

"All that they told me was that he died on a mission with you and your team. I asked around, but no one would tell me." Anna whispers as she stares into his eyes pleadingly.

Steve releases her face from his hands and looks away from her, swallowing hard before looking into her eyes again, nodding slowly and taking her hand.

"We should sit down." He whispers before leading her over to the edge of the boxing ring and holding up the ropes so that she can pass under them before following after her.

"You don't have to tell me everything about the war; I just want to know what happened to Bucky." Anna whispers as she takes his hand in hers and rests her head on his shoulder. Steve pulls her closer; wrapping his arms around her and gently kisses her forehead before sighing softly and beginning to explain the mission that got one of his best friends killed.

~Time skip~

"…He died because of me." Steve says softly, having reached the end of his recount of the events causing Anna to pull away and look up into his eyes with a scowl.

"Don't you dare say that! We both know that Bucky would never blame you for his death. He died fighting for what he believed in, with you at his side. He would be proud to have fought beside you until the end." She replies causing Steve to scoff and look away. Anna just shakes her head in response and takes his hand again.

"Come on, we've been down here a while, I'll make us some lunch and we can just relax alright?"

"Yeah, alright." Steve whispers with a nod causing Anna to smile up at him and lean up to peck him on the cheek.

The rest of their day is spent relaxing and talking about all the good times that they had with Bucky. When Clint and Natasha wander by the kitchen later that night on the way to their rooms after Natasha had just saved Clint from a mission gone bad they hear laughter and peek in to find Anna leaning against Steve's chest from laughing so hard. They look at each other and Clint raises an eyebrow before they continue on toward their rooms.

"Do you think she'll tell him any time soon?" Clint asks quietly making Natasha scoff.

"Please, she's probably waiting for him to make the first move."

**AN:** _Will Anna wait for Steve to make the first move or will she get impatient? We'll have to wait and see; I will hopefully have an update by this weekend, but I'm not sure because of school stuff so we shall see. Reviews are loved and much appreciated._


	7. Chapter 6: Feelings

**AN:** _Fair warning, I'm trying to show a softer side to Natasha, the side that she keeps buried deep under all her kick-ass skills and serious demeanor. So she's probably going to seem out of character. I was writing this when I should have been doing homework and I think it's the longest I've written yet._

**Chapter Six: Feelings**

~_After discussing what they had seen in the kitchen, Clint and Natasha decide that they need to help move things along a bit_~

Natasha and Clint wait in the hallway outside the kitchen for Steve and Anna to finish breakfast. As soon as the two best friends walk out of the kitchen they find themselves blocked from going elsewhere by the two master assassins.

"Hey guys, something going on?" Anna asks suspiciously.

"Director Fury believes that the Captain needs to spend some time with other members of the team." Natasha states in her 'business' tone, her face and eyes serious.

"I'm assuming this means that I'm going to spend the day with you while Clint and Steve have some 'male bonding' time, during which Clint will likely attempt to teach poor Steve how to flirt with women." Anna responds in a resigned tone before looking up at Steve's awkward expression.

"Have you showed him the Xbox yet?" Clint questions causing Steve to furrow his brows in confusion.

"Have fun boys." Natasha encourages before grabbing Anna's arm and dragging her upstairs. Once they reach Anna's room the redhead assassin rushes inside and quickly kicks the door shut.

"What is going on Tasha? Fury told Steve he would let him do things on his own time." The redhead narrows her eyes at Anna before dragging her over to the bed so that they can sit down.

"Clint and I saw you two in the kitchen last night."

"So? We were just talking Tasha."

"Really because it seemed like you couldn't get enough of each other. You can't wait forever for him to make the first move. I think you should tell him."

"And how do I go about that Tasha? Just go up to him and say 'hey Steve I know you've been on ice for almost seventy years and you have a lot of things that you need to sort out but I think you should know that I'm madly in love with you and have been pretty much all my life!' I can't really do that now can I? How do you tell your best friend who has been frozen in the Arctic for almost seventy years, who fought in a war with your brother and saw him die while blaming himself, who is probably still in love with someone else, that the entire time he was gone you kept dreaming that someday he would come back and see that you're in love with him. How do you tell him that the reason that you've barely been out with any guys is because you know that none of them could ever compare to him? I can't do that to him, he needs time to adjust to everything that's changed while he was gone, not something else to think about." Anna rants as tears fall from her eyes. Her friend sighs before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

"You don't see it do you? The way that his eyes light up when he sees you, the way that he will do anything to make you smile and laugh. He would do anything for you." Natasha informs her with a small, knowing smile.

"He's my best friend. He just likes knowing that I'm happy." Anna denies, too afraid to get her hopes up only to have them crushed later. Natasha huffs in annoyance and proceeds to spend the next two hours trying to convince Anna of Steve's feelings for her.

~Meanwhile what Steve and Clint were doing~

"So, what's going on between you and Anna?" Clint asks as he leans against the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"We saw you two in the kitchen last night, looked like you were having a good time." Steve shrugs.

"We're friends we were talking about what it was like growing up and fun memories of her brother."

Clint shakes his head and scoffs before pushing himself off of the wall and nodding toward the stairs.

"Follow me, I wanna show you something."

Steve raises an eyebrow but obediently follows Clint up the stairs to Clint's room. After entering the room Clint checks the hallway before closing the door and walking to the desk. He opens a laptop and turns it out, fiddling with it for a minute before stepping away from the desk.

"Sit." He commands with a nod toward the desk chair.

Steve sits and realizes that the screen is displaying the girls talking in Anna's room. He looks over his shoulder at the archer before glancing back at the screen and moving to stand.

"I don't think we should spy on the girls."

"Just sit down and pay attention." Clint replies before reaching over and turning up the volume.

"…on ice for almost seventy years and you have a lot of things that you need to sort out but I think you should know that I'm madly in love with you and have been pretty much all my life!' I can't really do that now can I? How do you tell your best friend who has been frozen in the Arctic for almost seventy years, who fought in a war with your brother and saw him die while blaming himself, who is probably still in love with someone else, that the entire time he was gone you kept dreaming that someday he would come back and see that you're in love with him. How do you tell him that the reason that you've barely been out with any guys is because you know that none of them could ever compare to him? I can't do that to him, he needs time to adjust to everything that's changed while he was gone, not something else to think about." Anna's voice comes through the speakers, sounding broken and Steve notices that she is crying.

Steve's eyes go wide as he watches Anna confess her love for him to her friend. He feels his heart beat racing as he hears the two women talk about her love for him and how he acts when she's around. When it reaches the point that Natasha is trying to convince Anna that he has feelings for her, Clint reaches out and closes the program before closing the laptop.

"As cheesy as it sounds, your whole face lights up when you see her." Steve's face turns a bit red at this and he quickly stands up.

"I need to go think, you can tag along if you want." Steve states somewhat calmly, everyone knew by now that his way of thinking was to beat on a punching bag. Clint simply nods and follows Steve out of his room and down to the gym that Anna had set up for him.

"Are you okay man?" Clint questions, hoping that the plan didn't backfire.

"I'll be alright, I just need some time. I need to talk to Anna later." Steve assures his friend as they enter the gym.

Steve goes to his usual punching bag and puts on his hand wraps before punching away. Clint observes him for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should voice his thoughts about the obvious feelings between Anna and Steve.

"Do you know what you're going to do? I mean, I may not have known Anna for as long as you have, but she's a good friend and a great girl. I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"I don't know. I mean don't get me wrong here, I care about her and I always have, but now I'm starting to realize just how much and I want to keep her safe. I don't want her to get hurt and I don't know if I can be what she needs me to be. I'm just starting to get used to everything and I just don't want to mess things up with her. And then when she told me about Stark I started realizing that there are other guys out there that can see how beautiful she is and what a great dame- I mean woman that she is and I started thinking that I need to do something, because I want to take a chance with her, but I don't know if I can give her everything that she needs right now. I probably sound like a sap now don't I?" Steve rambles.

Clint starts to shake his head in response to Steve's question, but can't contain himself and busts out laughing. Steve joins in soon after.

"Just a bit." Clint replies once he can control his laughter.

Steve smiles and nods, "I can't help the way I feel."

"I'm sure it will work out."

The two man look up when they hear the door open and close and see a nervous Anna and a serious Natasha. As soon as Steve sees Anna he smiles and starts removing his hand wraps.

"We'll just leave you two to talk then." Natasha says before grabbing Clint's arm and leading him away.

Anna slowly walks over to Steve just as he finishes removing the hand wraps and sets them aside. He notices how red her eyes are and gently cups her face in his hands.

"You okay Angel? You look like you've been crying again."

"I'll be fine, I just had to get some things off my chest and Natasha could tell. I'm okay now though." Anna whispers. Steve nods before leaning closer.

"I want to try something, just relax okay?" Steve says softly and when she nods in approval he leans even closer and she tenses up a bit.

"Relax, don't be scared."

Anna takes a deep breath before closing her eyes and relaxing. Steve leans in to close the gap between their lips, his nose gently bumping hers before his lips meet hers in a cautious closed mouth kiss. At first the two remain still, but after a moment Anna puts more into the kiss, pressing her lips more forcefully against his. Steve responds shyly at first but soon grows more confident as their lips move together in sync. Letting his instincts take over he moves one hand from her face to her hip and pulls her closer causing her to gasp and press herself closer. After a few moments both begin to realize that they should probably pull away but neither wants to lose the spark that they are feeling. Knowing that they need to breathe sometime soon Steve slowly pulls away, which seems to leave Anna dissatisfied judging by the fact that she simply reaches up and buries her fingers in his hair before yanking him back, causing him to chuckle softly into the kiss.

When they finally manage to pull away she is breathing somewhat heavily and her eyes are half closed. Steve is slightly less breathless and more shocked at what he had just done, but more importantly at how she had responded. Anna quickly looks up at him before letting her eyes drift closed and resting her head on his chest.

**AN:**_ Thought it was about time I had Steve and Anna kiss. Hope you like because I've never had a first kiss and had to ask for a friend's advice on what to do for…most of the chapter actually. So yeah, thanks to Melody because without her approval you would not be getting this chapter. Review if you want, I'm not sure about the next update due to school, but never fear, I shall not abandon this story._


	8. Chapter 7: Feelings Part II

**AN:** _Quick note to all who actually read this, Anna's outfit for fighting is similar to Natasha's except Anna's is backless so that she can have her wings out. No real spoilers this chapter, unless you haven't seen most of the videos about the movie._

**Chapter Seven: Feelings Part II**

After standing with his arms around her for another few moments, Steve moves and kisses her forehead.

"Why did you do it?" Anna mumbles against his t-shirt clad chest.

"Do what?"

Anna pulls away to look up at him before sighing and shaking her head. "Why did you kiss me?"

"I thought it was obvious," Steve starts, pausing when he sees the confusion on her face and smiling gently before continuing, "I've always cared about you Angel, much more than I should. Up until now I wasn't sure whether or not I should tell you but I've been… persuaded that it would be the right thing to do."

"Did Clint have anything to do with this persuasion?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. Steve simply grins sheepishly and shrugs in response, thinking over his reply.

"A bit; I just needed someone to give me a push, make me realize that I can't wait forever. Sooner or later someone else would have realized how wonderful you are and I might have lost my chance. I wasn't going to risk that." He whispers as he strokes her cheek with his thumb.

Anna leans into his hand and closes her eyes. Steve smiles and pulls her closer using the hand he had on her hip causing her to open her eyes and smile up at him.

"You know, on the outside you may be different, but inside you'll always be that same skinny boy from Brooklyn that I fell in love with." Anna blurts out before gasping and quickly covering her mouth with her hand. Her reaction to the fact that she revealed her love for him causes Steve to chuckle softly before responding.

"I love you too Anna, you don't have to hide it from me." Steve whispers before brushing some hair out of her face while she moves her hand away from her mouth and lets it drop to his chest.

Steve smiles and leans in to kiss her again, but they are soon interrupted by Anna's cellphone ringing. She reluctantly pulls away from him, pulling her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and checking the caller ID to find that it's Coulson. She rolls her eyes and looks up at Steve.

"I have to take this, its Fury's second-in-command, so it must be important." She whispers before kissing his cheek and walking to a corner of the room while answering in a clearly annoyed tone.

"What do you need Coulson?"

"The team is being assembled; Director Fury has assigned you to accompany me to see the Consultant." He informs her. Anna groans in frustration and leans against the wall.

"Seriously? I had to see him last time."

"Natasha has been sent after Banner and Barton…" Coulson trails off.

"What happened to Clint? He just got sent back to guard the Tesseract a few hours ago." Anna asks in a demanding tone, looking over at Steve who is watching her curiously from his place near the boxing ring.

"He's been compromised, that's all I can tell you right now, just meet me at Stark Tower. You can make that grand entrance you've been talking about." Coulson baits.

"And make you listen to that god awful elevator music by yourself? I'm not that cruel Phil." Anna smiles when she sees Steve raise an eyebrow and motions that she will explain when she gets off the phone.

"Alright, meet me in the HQ lobby in half-an-hour." Coulson responds enthusiastically, causing Anna to roll her eyes.

"You got it Boss." Anna responds before hanging up, putting it back in her pocket, and walking over to Steve.

"Everything okay? And why did you call him Phil?"

"I called him Phil because he's like the annoying uncle that I never had growing up, so we joke around. As for the situation, all I know is that Barton has been compromised and I have to go with your number one fan, other than me of course, to see Stark." Steve raises an eyebrow at the 'number one fan' comment and Anna just shakes her head before continuing, "Anyway, I gotta go meet him it the lobby in half-an-hour, but I'm gonna suit up first, looks more professional and all that."

Steve nods and Anna leans up to give him a quick kiss before exiting the gym and heading off to change.

After a quick change of clothes and elevator ride to the lobby, Anna meets up with Coulson and they quickly hop in one of the standard black SHIELD SUVs and begin the drive to Stark Tower. It is silent as they both buckle up and Coulson pulls onto the street before Anna turns to face him.

"This has something to do with Thor's brother, doesn't it?" She asks softly, causing Coulson to quickly glance at her with a slightly surprised expression and a nod before she continues, "Tasha sent me a message, she knew I would worry if no one told me what happened."

"Do you think that you could convince _him_ to sign my cards?" Coulson asks seriously, causing her to role her eyes and shake her head.

"Why don't you ask him yourself when we get to the helicarrier?" She questions, giggling when she sees his excited facial expression.

**AN:** _I know it's shorter than other chapters, but it was the best cut off point. The next chapter will be longer, if things work out the way I've planned, and will involve the team and hopefully Loki. I could be studying for a final right now, or packing, but that can wait. Review if you want, another chapter should be up by the end of the week._


	9. Chapter 8: Avengers Assemble

**AN:** _Just wanted to explain that when Anna's wings come out it's not a bloody mess, they are sort of like Logan/Wolverines claws in X-men. Also, she can change the color of the feathers at will, they just start out gray. This chapter gives more insight into Anna's power and her history; contains a flashback with Bucky…because let's be honest he's awesome. __WARNING__: May contain spoilers, if you haven't seen the movie. I also used a few direct quotes from the movie because they were honestly too awesome._

**Chapter Eight: Avengers Assemble**

Anna looks up at the looming Stark Tower as she exits the SUV and walks beside Coulson into the building. They wait patiently for the elevator to reach ground level, Anna having bribed the guard at the desk in order to go up. Coulson dials Starks number and Anna listens to his side of the conversation with Jarvis.

"He's going to have to talk to me eventually." He mutters when he looks over at Anna, who decides that she might as well let her wings out, just in case Stark tries to take off in his Iron Man suit.

Coulson watches with fascination as the bones slowly slide out of her back, muscles, skin and feathers quickly forming over them while Anna grits her teeth and grimaces in pain. Once her wings are fully revealed she takes a deep breath and sighs in relief before looking at Coulson.

"Tell Jarvis that Annabelle Barnes is with you and she's not in the mood for Stark's crap." Coulson nods and repeats her statement, which gains a quick response from Stark.

"This is urgent Tony."

Tony quickly hangs up only to have the elevator doors slide open to reveal Coulson and Anna.

"I guess there's no escaping you two." Tony states as Pepper quickly greets the SHIELD members, only to have Tony comment in the background, "Phil, who's Phil, his first name is Agent."

There is a quick exchange of pleasantries as Coulson hands off the file that SHIELD wants Stark to look at, which he quickly scans over. Shocked by the information on his screens Tony looks over at the others in the room and they have a quick discussion before Tony says that he'll need the night to look over the data.

"You take Pepper to the airport Phil, I can fly back to HQ in 'stealth mode' after I discuss a few things with Stark." Anna states, using air quotes. Phil nods in response and strikes up a conversation with Pepper as they enter the elevator and head off.

"So we're back to last names again Barnes?" Tony asks sarcastically.

"Don't start with the attitude again; you forget that I'm not much younger than your father would be if he were alive. This is a very serious situation and you had better treat it as such Anthony Edward Stark. I don't want you putting people we both care about in danger just because you decide to be cocky. We either come together as a team on this, or we watch the world as we know it crumble around us. And a word of warning, Steve isn't very fond of you after I informed him of your antics, so watch your back."

Anna turns to leave, having said her piece, when Stark reaches out to grab her wrist. She yanks her hand away and turns to glare at him only to be shocked by the serious expression on his face.

"I know this isn't a joke Annabelle, and I'm not planning on letting a madman destroy the world." He states causing Anna to nod slowly before she walks out onto the balcony.

She leans down to press a button on the inner seam of her right boot, causing all but her head, wings, and hands to become invisible. She then pulls on a pair of gloves, pulls up her hood, and shifts the color of her wings so that they match the night sky before taking off to return to SHIELD HQ.

-HQ Roof-

After a fifteen minute flight back to HQ, Anna quickly lands on the roof and removes her gloves and hood, pushing a button on her other boot to become visible again. She sighs softly and runs her fingers through her hair, retracting her wings with a pained groan before entering the building and taking the elevator down to the level where Steve's gym is located. She bumps into Fury on the way to the gym and he stops her.

"How did Stark take it?"

"It was much simpler than I thought, guess he misses the action. How did it go with Steve?"

"He's on his way out, so you can ask him yourself; have you told him yet?"

"Nope, figured I would wait until we're on the helicarrier and he can't interfere." Anna responds nervously. Fury chuckles before he sees Steve over her head and continues his trek to the elevator.

"Guess it's time to save the world again?" Steve asks as he stops behind her.

"At least this time I can come along and wait for you at 'base camp.'" Anna states causing Steve to look at her in shock.

"Oh no, I am not putting you in danger. I need to know that you are safe." He protests.

"The safest place I can be is close to you." Anna states, leaning up to peck him on the lips before taking his hand and pulling him down the hall, "Come on, you need your rest because tomorrow is a big day."

Steve lets her drag him to the elevator and as soon as they reach their floor he leads her to her room.

"I'll see you in the morning." He whispers before gently kissing her. What starts as a simple peck on the lips becomes a mini-make out session in the hallway when Anna buries her fingers in his hair and pulls him closer. At first he is uncomfortable, but she keeps him distracted for a while by massaging his scalp. Eventually, the need for air overpowers his need to be close to her and he slowly pulls away. Steve shakes his head to clear his thoughts before reaching up to take her wrists in his hands and pull her hands away from him, holding them between them while taking a step back.

"What's wrong? I'm sorry; I made you uncomfortable didn't I. I just…sometimes I think that it can't be real because you've been gone for so long and I…" Anna rambles, trailing off as tears fall from her eyes and her body begins to tremble. Steve quickly wraps his arms around her and pulls her close to his chest while shushing her.

"I'm here Anna, I'm not leaving you. Let's go inside okay," he whispers before gently taking her key from her hand, scanning it in the machine, and leading her inside, "I'm going to get you some water."

"No, don't go, just stay here, I'll be okay just don't leave me." Anna whimpers against his chest. Steve nods and carefully leads her to the couch before sitting down and letting her curl up in his lap, like when they were younger and she was scared. He slowly runs his fingers through her hair, like he had when they were kids.

"How long have you been holding this in Angel?" He whispers in her ear as he rubs his hand up and down her back to calm her down, feeling her bones shifting as her wings are desperate to be freed, "You know how bad it can get when you don't talk about how you feel. I don't want you to get hurt again."

-_Flashback_-

Steve and Bucky walk into the Barnes' apartment to find the sofa ripped apart. Bucky quickly shuts and locks the door before slowly walking further into the room.

"What the heck happened in here Bucky?" Steve asks worriedly.

"Just be quiet okay, I need to find Anna and calm her down. It's never gotten this bad before." Bucky whispers before moving down the hall toward the bathroom, where he hears the shower running. Bucky carefully opens the door to find drops of blood that lead to the tub and a few sharp, metal like feathers near the sink with blood on them.

"Bucky, is that you?" Anna's quiet whisper comes from the tub and both men looked up to see Anna peeking around the ripped shower curtain.

"Anna what happened to you?" Steve whispers from behind Bucky, causing her to squeak and hide behind the curtain again.

"What is he doing here? He can't know about this, no one should." Anna whispers as Bucky slowly approaches the tub and kneels just outside the curtain.

"Can you go get a towel and grab her robe for me Steve? I need to help her calm down." Bucky explains. Steve quickly does as he is asked and returns to find his friend quietly murmuring to the terrified young woman that is his sister.

"Everything's gonna be fine okay Angel? I just need you to calm down and let your wings go back to normal or the cuts won't heal." Bucky encourages before glancing back at the doorway and motioning for Steve to bring him the towel and robe. "Okay, can you turn off the water for me Bells? –_water shuts off-_ I need to get you dried off now, so I need you to stand up so that I can give you your towel and then me and Steve can turn around. You can come out for your robe alright sis?"

Anna slowly stands behind the curtain and is handed her towel, Bucky and Steve then turn around.

"I can't put the robe on because of my wings Bucky, they won't retract." She murmurs with her back facing them, so Bucky turns around and carefully rubs between her shoulder blades which causes her feathers to disappear and her wings to slowly retract into her back. Bucky then helps her put on her robe and turns around to face Steve's back.

"I'll explain things to him and you can go get dressed, alright?" Bucky then pulls Steve out of the room and pulls Steve into his room, shutting the door so that Anna can walk down the hall to her room before turning to Steve.

"I'm going to explain this in the simplest way I can. Her wings act as a defensive measure when she gets too upset, they burst out and turn into these sharp knife like weapons and hurt her while protecting her. It usually happens after nightmares, I guess she took a nap on the couch or something. She didn't want you to know because she thought you'd leave her out of things." Bucky explains. Steve just nods in understanding, trying to wrap his mind around what's going on.

-_End Flashback_-

"I didn't want to put pressure on you, I thought I could handle it, but I guess I was wrong." Anna whispers with her face pressed against the side of his neck.

Steve nods and feels her bones stop shifting under his hands, her wings having calmed down. "Don't let things get like this again, you scared me. You can talk to me about anything Annabelle, I thought you knew that. Do you think you're calm enough to go to bed?"

"Stay with me, I'm always calmer when you're around. I don't mean…ya know…I just want you to stay and hold me until I fall asleep, that is all I want." Anna whispers. He kisses her forehead and runs his fingers through her hair again before nodding slowly.

Anna carefully moves out of his lap and leads him to her bed. They both do their bed time rituals and Anna crawls under the covers. Steve is somewhat reluctant at first, but he eventually joins her and she rests her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it slowly lulls her to sleep. After some time just watching her sleep Steve decides that she will be alright and gets up to sleep on the couch.

The next morning Steve wakes up to the sunlight beaming into his eyes and stretches before getting up from the couch and moving into Anna's room to see if she's awake yet. He walks over and sits next to her on the bed before running his fingers through her hair, causing her to shift before her eyes slowly flutter open. He then removes his hand from her hair and moves so that she can sit up.

"Morning." He whispers as he watches her stretch.

"Morning, sleep well?" She asks.

"Better than I have in a while actually. Come on, we should probably get ready to go meet the rest of the team." He whispers as he sits up.

The two get ready for the trip to their new HQ and Anna leads Steve to the Quinjet that will take them to the helicarrier. They are met by Coulson, who is immediately star struck by his idol and Anna laughs quietly.

"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, I was, I was present while you were unconscious, from the ice. You know it's really just a, just a huge honor to have you on board." Coulson rambles as he follows Steve to stand at the front of the jet.

"Well I hope I'm the man for the job." Steve replies somewhat awkwardly.

"Oh, you are, you are." Coulson responds.

When the three reach the helicarrier and get off the jet Steve turns to Anna with annoyance clear on his face while Coulson is approached by Natasha.

"You could have helped me out at some point you know." Steve informs the woman who is still giggling quietly.

"I'm sorry but honestly he was so awkward, it reminded me of you when you had to talk to any woman other than me." Anna reminisces.

"I've never told anyone that I watched them while they were asleep." Steve mutters before crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.

Anna just giggles softly and tugs at his arm, causing him to look down at her pouting face before sighing in defeat and letting her take his hand. She smiles softly before lacing her fingers with his and pulling him toward Natasha and Dr. Banner.

"Word is you can find the cube." Steve comments as he shakes Banner's hand.

"Is that the only word on me?" He responds somewhat sarcastically, sounding miserable.

"Only word I care about." Steve informs him before looking down at Anna who squeezes his hand gently with a small smile on her face.

"We should get inside soon." Natasha states while glancing around the deck when a sudden whirring noise is heard.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve questions which causes Bruce to become more irritated as they walk toward the edge of the deck, Anna being dragged along by Steve.

Anna sighs while standing slightly behind Steve as the men look over the side of the ship. Once the men finally get over the fact that the helicarrier can in fact fly, the group makes their way inside.

"I'm glad Natasha managed to convince you to help us Dr. Banner, your research into gamma radiation is very thorough, completely unparalleled." Anna states softly as she walks between Steve and Bruce.

"Thank you, I can't exactly say I'm glad to be here though."

"I'm sure you'd rather be helping others elsewhere, but as soon as we find Loki and the Tesseract you can go back to your simple life." Anna assures him with a small smile.

They soon reach the bridge and look around at all the tech. Steve releases Anna's hand and moves to examine the area while Natasha moves to check on the status of finding Clint and Coulson explains what is being done to find Loki and the others. Banner soon gives Fury the information on what he needs to find the Tesseract and he is soon led to his lab by Natasha. Anna finds herself distracted the entire time, trying to determine why she feels as if she is being watched. After a while of standing around waiting for someone to get a hit on one of the men involved, they finally get a hit on Loki, who has apparently taken off to Germany.

"You're up Cap. Got a new agent coming along too, he'll be quite useful seeing as he hasn't failed to watch your back before." Fury states before motioning someone forward.

As soon as the agent comes into sight Steve and Anna both stare in shock. Anna suddenly begins to feel dizzy and quickly grabs onto Steve's arm for support.

"Bucky?"

**AN:** _Bet you weren't expecting that huh? Well if you want to know what's next or how the hell Bucky got there in the first place you should review. I need inspiration people and so the next chapter and explanation about how Bucky got there are being held hostage until I get some input. To those who have reviewed, I love what you have to say and I apologize for doing this, but I can only do so much._


	10. Bucky's Fate

**AN:** _Thank you to all who reviewed, your input keeps this story going. This isn't really a chapter; it's more a brief explanation of what's been happening with Bucky and how he survived the fall from the train. There isn't much dialogue, just explanations._ _I am totally disregarding the comic because I can, and because I always thought that Bucky deserved more than he got. Much thanks to TwilightxTanzie for her idea about Bucky falling into a rift in space-time, because it makes things flow much better._

**Bucky's Fate**

At some point before her recruitment to SHIELD, a teenage Natasha finds Bucky forty years after his fall from the train in a cave near a river in Russia after seeing a blue glow coming from inside and going in to investigate. After a lot of research and some computer hacking, they discover that the most logical explanation for his sudden appearance in the cave forty years after falling from the train is a rift in space-time, a portal of sorts that was somehow created by Red Skulls use of the weapons powered by the cosmic cube. She also helps him discover that he has a heal factor and possesses super strength as well as heightened senses, speed and agility. He also only remembers bits and pieces of his life, such as the fact that his first name is Bucky, he was an American soldier during World War II, his best friend was also a soldier, and he had a younger sister who also possessed a mutation. Natasha tries to help him, but they slowly come to realize that she can't help much so he decides to go off on his own.

Bucky is later located by Professor Xavier due to his inability to control his abilities when he is angry and he ends up going to Xavier's to learn control. He becomes more determined to find out more about his past and has realized by this point that his best friend was Captain America, but can't find out what happened to him. He frequently asks Xavier to help him with his memories, but gets the same response as Logan. This causes Bucky to decide that he has to retrace his footsteps, so he starts in Brooklyn and continues on to all the places that he remembers being.

Bucky ends up back in Russia where he runs into Natasha again, right after her interrogation with the Russians in _The Avengers_. He recognizes her from when she tried to help him years before and Natasha realizes that he looks a lot like the brother that Anna had showed her pictures of, the brother she talks to Steve about all the time. This realization causes her to decide to talk to him for a few minutes, thinking that maybe she can help Anna, Bucky, and Captain America all at once.

"I remember you; you're the one that helped me after you found me in that cave." Bucky states when he sees her.

"I did. How's that going?" Tasha asks curiously.

"Pretty good actually, I remember a lot more, like my last name is Barnes. And my sister, her name is Annabelle. I just wish that I could find her now, I know she's alive, I can just feel it." Bucky responds, staring at the ground and frowning in frustration.

"I know where she is." Bucky's head snaps up and he eyes her suspiciously, but she simply nods to assure him.

"I'm actually headed to where she is right now. I can pull a few strings and take you to her, if you'd like."

"Can you just tell me where she is? I don't want to get in the way."

"I would, but it's classified. If you let me make a few calls, I'll be able to bring you with me."

"Alright." Bucky reluctantly agrees.

And so Natasha calls Fury and convinces him to let Bucky come with her, explaining that he could play a key part in bringing the Captain onto the team, as well as the fact that his knowledge and experiences about HYDRA could be useful. So Bucky ended up standing in an inconspicuous spot on the bridge of the Helicarrier, watching his sister and best friend stand close to each other and waiting for Fury to motion him forward.

**AN: **_There you have it, more detail will be given in the inevitable conversation between Bucky, Steve, and Anna in the next chapter…after the boys return from capturing Loki in Germany._


	11. Chapter 9: Loki's War

**AN: **_Sorry that it's taken me so long to update, life is pretty hectic at the moment, I've got two female cats in heat that keep me up most of the night, thankfully they are finally getting fixed this week, and we just got a foreclosure notice. Yeah...life's very complicated right now, so I apologize in advance for the sporadic updates. _

**Chapter Nine: Loki's War **

Anna's eyes suddenly close and she starts to collapse, but Steve quickly catches her and kneels on the floor with her in his arms.

"Anna!" Bucky shouts, his concern for his baby sister clear in his voice and on his face as he rushes to kneel on her other side.

"How are you alive? I saw you fall from the train, no one should have survived that fall."

"You never saw me hit the bottom of the ravine did you? That cube did a lot more than Schmidt realized." Bucky informs while looking over his sister before looking back at Steve with his signature poker face and continuing, "My question is what is going on between my best friend and my sister?"

Steve blushes slightly before looking away from Bucky and glancing down at Anna so that he can brush some hair out of her face before looking back at his best friend with a determined facial expression.

"I love her Bucky, I always have, it just took being frozen in ice for almost seventy years for me to realize it. I understand if you're mad, but I can't help it Bucky." He whispers before looking back at Anna's unconscious form in his arms.

"I'm not angry Steve. To be honest, I'm kind of glad that she's with you and not some random jerk, I trust you to treat her right." Bucky states with a small smirk before his face once again grows serious, "But if you hurt her I will hurt you."

Coulson quietly approaches them and stands silently for a moment before clearing his throat to catch their attention, after a nod of approval from Fury. "It would probably be best to take Annabelle to her room to rest. I can wait with her while you go after Loki, if you would like."

"I would prefer to stay and explain everything to her, but I will go on the mission if you need me too sir." Bucky responds while looking from Coulson to Fury.

"That decision is up to Captain Rogers." Fury informs, causing the three men to look at Steve while he stares at Bucky with an indecisive expression.

"I just want what's best for Anna."

"Then I'll stay, I would rather she see me face to face than have someone tell her that I was really here but then I had to leave again." Bucky informs, causing the other men to nod before he and Steve stand and follow Coulson through the many halls to Anna's room, Steve cradling her close to his chest the entire time.

Upon reaching their destination, Coulson opens the door and allows the other two men to enter the room before following and motioning for Steve to lay Anna on the small bed, which he does gently. After making sure that she will be comfortable, Steve turns to his long lost best friend and they seem to have a silent conversation before nodding to each other. Steve then turns back to Anna and gently kisses her forehead.

"I'll be back soon Angel, I promise." He whispers before reluctantly leaving the room to go to the Quinjet.

After Steve leaves, Coulson informs Bucky to inform the team of any change before heading back to the bridge. Once he leaves, Bucky sighs and gently takes Anna's hand in his.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to find you sis, but I was asleep for forty years and when I woke up my memory was full of holes. It took a while but I'm here now, thanks to your friend Natasha. I didn't mean for you to faint Angel, I should have known this would happen, but I didn't have a choice; I had to do what Fury told me, I'm still a soldier after all." Bucky whispers as he rubs the back of her hand with his thumb.

After three or so hours, Bucky begins to worry; knowing that in the past Anna would have woken up in at least an hour. Each passing minute causes his worry to grow until Anna suddenly begins fidgeting before mumbling and then tossing and turning.

"Bells? Come on Annabelle, wake up, it's just a dream." Bucky murmurs while shaking her shoulders.

"Clint, no, stop!" Anna shrieks before shooting up from her bed then falling back against her pillows.

"Clint? You mean the agent that Loki took over?" Bucky demands, only to be ignored as Anna stares at the door while breathing heavily. "Anna, what's wrong?"

Anna slowly calms down before looking over at Bucky and once again staring in shock for a few moments before she is able to speak.

"Bucky? But Steve said you fell, you can't be here, you're not real. Where's Steve? I need to tell Steve." She rambles.

Bucky sighs before putting his hand under her chin and lifting her face so that she can look him in the eye. "I'm right here Bells, I fell through a rift in space-time that was created by HYDRA's use of the cube. Your friend Natasha found me forty years after I fell, in a cave in Russia, she tried to help me and we discovered that I'm also a mutant. I'll explain everything when Steve gets back."

"He can't bring Loki here, that's exactly what he wants. Give me the walkie on the table over there." Anna demands causing Bucky to smirk and shake his head at her attitude before nodding and grabbing it for her.

"Coulson, what's the status on Loki?"

"The Quinjet is landing as we speak." Coulson replies.

"That is not a good thing Coulson, I'm coming to the rest of the team, don't let Fury start interrogating him without me." Anna informs before looking to her brother and continuing, "Let's go Bucky, I'm not sure I can walk on my own."

Bucky nods and helps her to stand up before following her directions to reach the rest of the team, his arm around her waist and her arm around his shoulders so that he can support her.

-_When they reach the team-_

"Anna, what are you doing here, you should be resting." Steve states worriedly as soon as he sees her and Bucky. They continue to move into the room and Anna moves to stand beside his chair and rest a hand on his shoulder.

"Not now Steve, we need to get Loki off this ship right now, before his team shows up and shoots us out of the sky."

"What do you mean Annabelle?" Thor questions, his brow furrowed.

"Loki is dangerous, you know this Thor, he has a plan and if we don't get him off this ship his team will show up and send this ship crashing to the ground. He has control over Clint and we know how accurate he is with his bow. Are you going to listen to me or aren't you?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Barnes, but until we have the Tesseract Loki is to remain here. Now, I have business to attend to with our prisoner." Fury states before leaving to talk to Loki.

Anna lets out a sigh of frustration while glaring at Fury's back before moving to sit at the table next to Steve while Bucky sits on her other side. As they wait for Fury to reach Loki's prison, Anna pulls it up on her table screen so that Bucky and Steve can watch as well. The first thing they see is Fury walking over to the control panel in the room before turning to look at Loki.

_-With Fury-_

"In case it's unclear, you try to escape; you so much as scratch that glass_. [Fury presses the big red button, opening a huge hole directly below Loki's cell]_ Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? _[He points at Loki]_ Ant, _[Points back to big red button] _Boot." Fury states before closing the hole below the cage and shutting the cover for the button while Loki simply chuckles softly, unintimidated.

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." Loki states while spreading his arms and walking around in the cage.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury responds, causing Loki to look at him with a smirk.

"Oh, I've heard, _[Loki looks to camera in cage]_ a mindless beast; makes play he's still a man. _[he turns back to Fury]_ How desperate are you? That you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? [_Fury approaches the cage]_ You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill 'cus it's fun. You have made me VERY desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what, _[he looks up at the camera again] _a warm light for all of mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is..." Loki responds mockingly.

"Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." Fury responds while he descends the stairs and leaves Loki alone in his prison.

_-With the team-_

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Anna states calmly as she looks around the room at the rest of the team.

**AN:** _Really hope that I kept Bucky in character; he's difficult for me to write because I'm not as familiar with his character as I am with others. Also really hope I got that dialogue between Loki and Fury right, I do what I can, if it's wrong I'll fix it later. Review or PM me with responses and ideas, I'm not really sure how the next chapter will play out or when I'll be able to update, as stated in the AN at the top. Sorry it's so short.  
_


	12. Chapter 10: The Attack

**AN: ** _Finally found the inspiration to update…because I saw the movie for the third time, plus I have the soundtrack and I can look up direct quotes online, gotta love the internet. I've been having some serious writers block but hopefully I'll be updating more often. A lot of stuff directly from the movie, but that's just how things turns out._

**Chapter Ten: The Attack**

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce asks sarcastically; gaining a scoff from Anna.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asks the Norse God, whose back is facing the team, causing him to turn around before responding.

"He has an army called the Chitauri, thats not of Asgard nor any world know. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." He states grimly.

"An army, from outer space."

"That's just…peachy." Anna mumbles sarcastically to her brother, whose only response is to raise a brow at her attitude.

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce states which causes Thor's brow to furrow in confusion.

"Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha informs him, her agitation at the situation clear on her face.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."

"I tried to tell you, but no one believes me." Anna responds in an irritated tone, a scowl now on her face before mumbling something along the lines of "stubborn men" under her breath.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"Take care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother." Thor warns Bruce.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha and Anna state in unison.

"He's adopted."

Anna shakes her head in response to Thor's reply before zoning out for a moment, trying to gather her emotions to prevent herself from lashing out at the team due to the frustration she feels at being ignored, though she faintly pays attention to the discussion. Bucky notices her detachment but says nothing, knowing that she needs time to get herself together.

"Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Bruce wonders aloud.

"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony answers as he enters the room with Coulson and quietly says something to him before continuing. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD. _[He moves to Thor and pats his arm]_ No hard feelings Point Break, you've got a mean swing. _[Finishing statement about Iridium]_ Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants."

He then motions for one of the techs to raise the screens.

"That man is playing gallaga!" Tony exclaims, earning a confused look from Steve and causing Anna to snap back to reality before continuing. "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. _[Approaches screens and covers one eye] _How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns." Agent Hill states.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube." Tony replies as he examines the screens before placing something on the stand for one of the monitors, which only Anna seems to notice.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve questions, looking from Tony to Bruce.

"He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bruce answers.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Steve questions.

"I think he meant someone who speaks nerd." Anna whispers in his ear as Tony walks over to Bruce.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." Tony greets before shaking Bruce's hand.

"Thanks." He responds, his facial expression clearly showing his discomfort which Tony either doesn't notice or chooses to ignore.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury states as he enters the room, causing Bruce to lead Tony from the room in the direction of the lab.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve suggests.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor questions.

"I do! I understood that reference." Steve responds, causing Anna to laugh softly at his reaction.

"At least you can recognize a _Wizard of Oz_ reference." She replies with a small smile of encouragement.

"Let's move, time is short." Fury orders.

The rest of the team sitting at the table gets to their feet. Steve and Bucky head toward the lab, Natasha toward Loki's cell, and Anna approaches Fury.

"Sir, I was wondering if perhaps I could speak to Loki?"

"He's dangerous Ms. Barnes." Fury answers calmly.

"I'm well aware of that sir, but I still think I should speak to him. I believe that I can understand him." She responds stubbornly.

Fury is silent for a moment before he nods somewhat reluctantly.

Anna returns the nod with a small smile before heading in the same direction as Natasha. Her journey to the detention level is surprisingly short, but she is forced to stop when she sees that Natasha is sitting in the chair in front of his cell. Anna waits outside the room, listening closely to the conversation.

"…. I've got red in my ledger; I'd like to wipe it out." Natasha states.

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter, Sao Paulo, the hospital fire? Yes, Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer... PATHETIC! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you, and they will never go away!... You won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear! And when he wakes, he'll have just enough time to see his work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!" Loki roars.

Anna hears quiet footsteps for a moment before Natasha replies in what she knows to be her friends acting voice.

"You're a monster!"

"No, you brought the monster."

"So, Banner... that's your play."

"What?"

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor and Anna as well."

Anna hears footsteps moving toward her and rushes down the hallway, hiding around the corner opposite of the direction her red haired friend needs to go and waits for her footsteps to fade before approaching Loki's cell.

"Hope your discussion is short Ms. Barnes." Fury's voice states in Anna's com.

"It will be sir." She confirms.

Anna then walks into the area outside Loki's containment cell, her wings relaxed against her back. She stops in front of where he is standing and they stare straight into each other's eyes for a moment before Anna smirks and looks at the surrounding area.

"I know why you did it, Loki, God of Mischief and Lies." Anna states in an understanding and determined tone. She quickly looks to his face and searches for a reaction. Loki simply raises an eyebrow and gives her a once over before responding.

"Do tell. I'd love to get the input of the pathetic little angel in love with the lost soldier." Loki states sarcastically.

"You'll have to try harder than that to get a rise out of me, Loki Liesmith. I know what it's like to feel lost and alone, betrayed by the ones that were supposed to protect and shelter you. To be hated and in some ways hate yourself for what you are. You aren't solving anything Loki, you're letting your rage and hate control you and it will only end in failure. You may think that you can rip this team apart, but in the end you will only bring us closer together. I feel sorry for you Loki, but the only one that can save you now is you…or _her_." Anna pauses, taking in the shock that shows clearly in his eyes before continuing, "I know about the woman you left behind, after all I do have friends in high places and I was in New Mexico so your brother and I get along quite well. You have a choice Loki, don't forget that. I'll leave you alone to think now, choose well."

Loki watches Anna leave the room, his mind racing as he tries to figure out how she knows all that she does.

"Impossible." Loki whispers to himself before sitting on the bench in his prison and waiting for his people to recover him.

Anna leaves the room where Loki is being detained and leans against the wall, her wings shifting restlessly against her back before she manages to calm down and begins her walk toward the lab. Halfway down the hall an explosion sends shockwaves through the ship, causing Anna to lean on the wall to regain her balance.

"Crap." She mumbles before quickening her pace toward the lab.

**AN:** _ Alright, I have an outline of where I want to go from here, so I should be able to update more regularly now. Sorry for the shortness. As always, reviews are appreciated and motivate me to update._


	13. Chapter 11: Aftermath

**AN:** _ I know I said I'd update more often, but you know how it is; sometimes things don't go the way you planned. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, for all the alerts, favorites, and reviews. This will probably be wrapped up in another one or two chapters, but after that I plan to go back and fix a few things that have been pointed out to me and I might do a few one shots related to this story, who knows? A lot of movie dialogue in this one too.__**  
**_

**Chapter Eleven: Aftermath**

After an intense argument between the Avengers is interrupted by the explosion rocking the ship, the team is quick to act, banding together to figure out what is happening and how to solve it.

Steve quickly glances behind him as he is about to leave the room and locks eyes with Bucky. "Find Anna, Stark and I are going to do what we can to keep us in the air."

Bucky nods and races out of the lab, toward the detention level where he knows his sister will be. After a few sharp turns he turns another corner and ends up crashing straight into his sister.

"What are you doing here? Where's Steve?" Anna questions, her concern clear in her tone and on her face.

"Steve and Stark went to try and find a way to keep us in the air. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Bucky. You need to help them, by now Loki's men are probably on the way to make sure that they don't keep us in the air. I'm going to find Thor and try to make sure Loki doesn't get away."

"Alright, be careful Bells." Bucky whispers before hugging his baby sister and going off to help Steve and Tony.

After hearing about Hulk's rampage over her earpiece, Anna takes off toward the lab where he and Thor are fighting.

Reaching the labs Anna finds Thor near the door to the lab as Hulk is jumping onto a jet hovering just outside the broken window. She quickly approaches Thor's side and helps him up.

"We have to hurry, Loki's probably already out of the cage by now and we need to stop him from getting off the ship." She murmurs before grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the detention level.

When the two finally reach Loki's detention chamber, they find 'Loki' stepping out of his prison which causes Thor to rush toward the cage while Anna grabs for his arm and tries to stop him. He pushes her to the side gently and rushes forward only to be trapped in the cage before she is thrown across the room by the God of Mischief.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?" Loki questions his adopted brother, a smirk on his face before he is hit by one of Anna's metal feathers.

Loki turns to find Anna standing with a look of determination on her face, her hand on the pouch on her belt that is filled with her feathers, and his smirk widens before he disappears only to reappear behind her and stab her in the chest with his spear.

"NO!" Thor roars from inside the cage as his friend falls to the ground before he slams his hammer against the glass, only to have the cage shift.

Loki grins evilly at him before stepping toward the control panel and lifting the cover over the red button, "The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?"

Anna watches, worried and in pain, but before he can press the release for the cage he is interrupted by Agent Coulson wielding a large weapon.

"Move away, please." Coulson commands politely, Loki moves away before the agent continues, "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?"

"Phil, move!" Anna screams, realizing Loki's plan.

Coulson moves quickly toward the cage to his right, but not quickly enough and he is stabbed through the right side of his chest by the insane god's scepter. After it is removed, Coulson falls to the side and Anna carefully moves toward him, leaning him against the wall and putting pressure on his wound.

"You really are a meddlesome woman Annabelle Barnes, but you can't stop me." Loki states before moving over to the button and releasing the cage.

There is a short pause filled only by Anna's soft whispers that Phil would be alright before Coulson speaks.

"You're gonna lose." He murmurs confidently.

"Am I?"

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky... where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

"I don't think I..." Loki begins before he is cut off by Coulson firing the huge weapon at him and he is blasted across the room and through a wall.

"So that's what it does." Coulson states in a surprised tone.

"I need medical in here, Coulson is injured!" Anna shouts into her communicator as Loki rushes out and footsteps approach them, causing her to grab Coulson's sidearm and point it at the door, only to lower it when Fury enters the room.

"I'm sorry, boss. The guy rabbited." Coulson apologizes as Fury kneels in front of him while Anna continues to apply pressure to his wound.

"Just stay awake. Eyes on me." Fury demands.

"I don't know if he can make it, he's losing too much blood." Anna whispers sadly, tears falling from her eyes.

"Losing him is not an option Annabelle." Fury responds adamantly.

"It's okay, boss. This was never going to work... if they didn't have something... to..." Coulson cuts off as he passes out.

"Agent Coulson is down." Fury states in an ominous tone, causing Anna to look at him in confusion as the medics rush in and take over where she left off, placing Coulson on a stretcher quickly before she is forced into a wheelchair.

"We know sir, paramedics are on their way." An agent says over the coms.

"They're already here. They called it." Fury states, causing Anna to shake her head in anger and confusion before stopping the medic from pushing her out after Coulson, turning off her com.

"Why are you lying sir, there's still a chance." Anna whispers.

Fury turns off his com before he responds. "He's right, they need something to unite them."

Anna sighs and reaches for her backup set of Captain America cards. "Use these, they won't know the difference between my blood and his and he never showed them his cards. Just make sure you grab his from his locker."

Fury nods in thanks before Anna motions for the medic to wheel her away and Fury heads off toward Command.

**AN: **_There you have it. It may not be the longest or best chapter, but I'm pretty proud of it because it means I'm one step closer to actually finishing a fanfic. Thanks for all the support all of you have given thus far, reviews are as always much appreciated. _


	14. Chapter 12: Becoming a Team

_**AN:**__ Sorry for the wait, I had some serious writers block but hopefully that's over. One or two more chapters left, thanks for sticking with me through this story. Hopefully this flows with the movie script, but my memory is a bit fuzzy so events may be a bit out of order._

**Chapter Twelve: Becoming a Team**

As soon as Tony, Steve, and Bucky are finished fixing the engine, Fury informs them of Anna's injury causing the three to automatically rush toward med bay. In order to reach their destination as quickly as possible, Tony rudely shoved several people out of the way causing Steve and Bucky to apologize to all the people that he shoved. By the time the three reach med bay, Steve and Bucky feel like they have apologized to half of the crew on the Helicarrier and are thoroughly annoyed with Tony Stark.

"Excuse me, can you tell us where Annabelle Barnes is?" Steve asks the nearest medic.

The man motions for them to follow him before quickly leading them to Anna's room. As soon as they see her the three men grow concerned.

"Hello boys." Anna greets quietly before rubbing the sore area on her chest where she was stabbed by Loki.

"What the hell happened to you girly?" Tony questions.

"I found out that I shouldn't mess with a guy who can use a scepter to impale people." She responds sarcastically.

"How bad is it?" Bucky asks while he moves to stand beside her on the left side of the bed while Steve stands on the right.

"I'll heal, you know how my heal factor works. The important thing is stopping Loki and avenging Coulson." Bucky opens his mouth to protest only to have her cut him off. "I'm going to stay here, make sure my wound heals completely and see how I can help repair the damage that Loki left behind. Now you three go see Fury and figure out our next move." Anna commands.

The boys nod in response and head off to meet Fury on the bridge. Once they are all seated at the table Fury stands in front of them.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." Fury states, tossing the cards that Anna gave him on the table before continuing his speech. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. _(short pause)_ Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes." _Tony gets up and walks out. _"Well, it's an old fashioned notion."

Steve and Bucky nod to Fury before leaving to find Tony. When they find him he is in the room where Coulson died.

"Was he married?" Steve asks.

"No. There was a uh...cellist, I think."

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

"He was an idiot." Tony scoffs.

"Why? For believing?" Bucky questions.

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job." Steve defends.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right. How did that work for him?"

There is a pause before Steve replies. "Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

"We are not soldiers! I'm not marching to Fury's fife." Tony argues.

"Neither are we." Bucky starts.

"He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does, but right now we gotta put that behind us and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list..." Steve finishes.

"He made it personal." Tony states, basically ignoring half of Steve's statement.

"That's not the point." Steve replies.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?" Tony wonders aloud.

"He wants to tear us apart." Bucky replies.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." Tony realizes as he walks toward the control panel, causing Steve and Bucky to follow him.

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah. That's just previews, this is...this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered…." Tony goes silent as he begins to realize where Loki is going. "Son of a bitch."

The three head off to get ready and get Natasha. Once the team is all gathered in the hanger area they approach on of the Quinjets.

"You guys aren't authorized to be in here." The young pilot states.

"Son, just don't." Steve demands, causing Bucky to laugh quietly.

_-Meanwhile on the Helicarrier-_

"Sir." Agent Hill says as she approaches Director Fury.

"Agent Hill?"

"Those cards, they were in Coulson's locker, not in his jacket." She states.

"They needed the push." Fury states as he watches Stark and the Quinjet takeoff. "They found it. Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do. I want eyes on everything."

"Yes, sir." Hill responds.

"Director Fury." Anna calls from the entrance to the bridge.

"You should be in med bay."

"I'll be fine sir; I need to talk to you about what happened with Loki."

"Later Ms. Barnes, right now we need to focus on getting communications back up."

"What can I do to help sir?"

_-Back in the City-_

Tony stands behind the bar in his penthouse in Stark Tower with Loki on the other side of the bar.

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?" Loki asks mockingly.

"The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing." Tony informs nonchalantly.

"Yes, I've met them." Loki states with a smirk.

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God;_ [Loki turns away and Tony slips the homing bracelets to his newest suit onto his wrists]_ a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins; two mutants with extraordinarily powerful abilities, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan."

"Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Tony informs.

"I have an army." Loki brags.

"We have a Hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off." Loki states.

"You're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it." Tony warns.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" Loki questions before putting his scepter to Tony's chest, only to be cancelled out by the arc reactor. He tries and fails again.

"This usually works!"

"Well, performance issues. Not all that uncommon, one in five..." Tony mocks, causing Loki to grab him by the throat and throw him across the room. "Jarvis, anytime now."

"You will all fall before me." Loki states holding Tony up by the throat before throwing him out the window only to have Tony's suit launch after him and attach to him during the fall.

"And there's one other person you pissed off! His name is Phil." Tony states before blasting Loki with energy from his chest arch.

The portal above opens fully and Tony looks up at the army that begins to pour into the city.

"Right, army." Tony states before going off to fight the army.

_As he continues to fight the army the others are closing in on the Quinjet._

"Stark, we're heading north east." Natasha says over the com.

"What, did you stop for drive-thru?" Tony questions sarcastically before getting into hero mode. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

After taking out the aliens that Tony lined up for them, Natasha and Clint fly the jet toward Stark Tower, where they see Loki fighting Thor. Loki is quick to fire magic at them and the jet is soon spiraling out of control to crash land on the ground a few blocks away.

"Definitely don't plan on flying again for a long while." Bucky states before they look up to see a giant flying snake like creature come flying out of the portal surrounded by more aliens. The creature flies over the group and releases more aliens.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve questions over the com.

"Seeing, still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Steve question while sharing a confused look with Bucky.

"Just keep me posted." He replies before flying up next to the flying creature, "Jarvis, find me a soft spot."

_-Meanwhile with Thor and Loki-_

"Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?" Thor shouts to his brother.

"_Loki, please listen to reason."_ Loki's wife echoes in his head.

"It's too late. It's too late to stop it." Loki replies, more to his wife than anything as his eyes begin to water.

"No. We can, together." Thor tries to convince him, causing the small possibility of Loki changing his mind to disappear as Loki remembers why he started this crusade to begin with.

"Sentiment!" Loki hisses to Thor as he stabs him in the gut.

_-On the ground-_

"They're fish in a barrel down there." Steve states, looking at the people on the ground._  
_

"We've got this." Natasha announces to Steve as aliens surround the group.

"You think you can hold them off?" Steve asks, looking for a way to get to the cops on the street.

"Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure." Clint states before they start fighting, leaving Steve an opening to get to the nearby cops.

"Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha calls to Clint as they fight of the warriors.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently."

_-With Steve/the police-_

"Does the army know what's happening here?" The Police Sergeant asks his fellow officers.

"Do we?!" A young officer replies.

Both jump slightly when Steve suddenly jumps down and lands behind them on one of their cars.

"I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway; you keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." Steve informs the officers.

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" The Sergeant responds.

Suddenly a couple of Chitauri warriors attack Steve from behind, causing him to turn and fight them off easily. The officer then repeats what Steve told him to the other officers who are around.

Steve then leaves to regroup with the rest of the team and Thor arrives soon after. The group quickly discusses possible tactics, but are interrupted when Banner arrives, followed shortly after by Annabelle.

"Anna what are you doing here?" Bucky demands.

"I'm fine Bucky, besides, I wasn't about to let you guys have all the fun."

"So, this all seems horrible." Bruce comments after a short pause.

"I've seen worse." Natasha replies, referring to being chased around in the helicarrier by Hulk.

"Sorry." He replies sheepishly.

"No, we could use a little worse."

"Stark, we got him, Banner, just like you said. Anna's here as well." Steve informs.

"Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony responds.

The team watch as Tony comes flying around the corner of one of the building, one of the giant alien creatures following him.

"I don't see how that's a party." Natasha deadpans.

"Tony, why do you always have to have such ridiculous ideas?" Anna questions before getting into a fighting stance.

"Dr. Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry." Steve comments.

"That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry." Bruce states before turning toward the creature, transforming into the Hulk and slamming his fist into its face. This causes it to buckle and its tail end to tilt straight up.

"I got it." Tony calls before aiming his laser at it causing Steve to grab Natasha and protect her with his shield while Anna uses her wings as a shield.

The group then forms a back to back circle and Hulk roars at the enemy warriors who shriek at the loss of their comrade.

_**AN:**__ there you are, a new chapter; hopefully I will update within the next week, hope you enjoy._


	15. Chapter 13: Loki's Defeat

_**Okay, so I took this down and decided to repost it because I was disappointed by what I had posted and wanted to fix it. On that note, here is the revised chapter 13.**_

_**AN: **__Sorry I took so long with this, I know I said I would have it out sooner, but my life turned into a mess, family issues and my dog got fleas again anyway, to explain part of the previous chapter, Loki is in fact married; he was in mythology as well, I'm just planning to write a Loki/OC story in the future and planned to have it tie into this as well._

**Chapter Thirteen: Loki's Defeat**

"Guys?" Natasha questions.

The group looks to the portal as they see two more snake like creatures emerging from it before turning to Steve.

"Call it, Captain."

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash." Steve commands.

"Wanna give me a lift?" Barton asks Stark.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony warns before grabbing him by the shoulders and taking off.

"Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning, light the bastards up."

Looking around at Anna, Bucky, and Natasha, Steve nods, "We stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk _(Steve points to Hulk)_ smash!"

The Hulk grins in response and jumps off to attack the aliens on the buildings.

"Are you sure you're alright Angel?" Steve questions.

"No worries babe, I can take whatever these freaks dish out."

"Babe?" Bucky questions while taking down the nearest alien.

"No worries big brother, just a little pet name!" Anna shouts from the other side of the bridge while fighting off a shield wielding alien.

After taking out most of the aliens on the bridge only to have them replaced by more, Natasha turns to Steve, "Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve warns.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns." Natasha replies while sharing a look with Anna before looking to Stark tower.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

"I got a ride. I could use a boost though." Natasha says after looking at the aliens flying over on their crafts.

"I'll go ahead, try and clear a path." Anna informs before spreading her wings and beginning to hover before taking off at a nod of approval from both Bucky and Steve.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve wonders, watching Anna leaving before getting his shield ready to give Natasha a boost.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun." Natasha assures before she runs at him, using a nearby car as a boost before launching off Steve's shield and grabbing onto the bottom of an alien craft.

Anna quickly attracts the attention of several aliens and has to weave between buildings in order to escape their weapons. "Hey Clint, I could use a little cover, if you're not too busy."

"I've got your back Anna."

Anna soon reaches the Stark building and sees Loki stand only to get slammed into by the Hulk and hit the fireplace. She stands by the window and watches the action.

"Enough! You are all of you beneath me! I am God, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by..." Loki starts, only to be cut off by the Hulk swinging him around the room and bashing him into the floor.

"Puny God." Hulk states as he walks toward the balcony, nodding as he passes Anna.

"Did you really think that you could win this fight? Humans are much more resilient than you anticipated." She asks a stunned Loki.

Loki groans softly in response.

"Would you like to know why I knew your plans Loki? Your wife showed me, you see we met many years ago, when she came to visit Earth and we became friends. She sent me a vision of your plans. Of course she knew because of the connection between your minds. She wants to save you Loki, why won't you let her? Why did you leave her, all alone, to raise your child? _[Loki seems to snap out of his stunned state and turns his head to stare at her with wide eyes]_ She never told you, not even through your mental link…maybe she wanted you to choose to come back to her because of your love for her, not out of duty for your child. She can save you Loki, and for your sake I hope you let her."

Anna then walks over to the bar and sits down on a bar stool.

She watches from the window as the team continues to fight and worries for Tony as he passes through the portal.

When the team enters the penthouse and stands around Loki, Anna stands between Steve and Bucky, right behind Hawkeye.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Loki states, causing Anna to smirk and shake her head.

_**AN:**__ okay guys, not that much changed but I like this one much better. I hope to have the final chapter up soon, I might make a sequel, I might not, who knows._


	16. Chapter 14: The End?

_** AN:**__ Okay, so I know I said I'd have this out sooner, but then I got a job babysitting and life got crazy. Just fyi, babysitting a fussy 2 year old is not the best job in the world, takes a lot of energy and gives you a new appreciation for moms in general. I took some time to watch the Avengers on my time off and this is what I got as a result. I know it's short, but life is hectic.  
_

**Chapter Fourteen: The End?**

The Avengers sit at the table in the shawarma joint; Thor having used his hammer to pin Loki to the floor in Stark Tower. Anna glances around at the other members of her team knowing that this will _hopefully_ be the last time they will be together for a while. She can tell that everyone is exhausted from the war they have just fought and all are glad that it is over.

Once they have all eaten their fill, on the house according to the owners because they saved the city, they all return to Stark Tower to find Loki exactly where they left him. He looks a bit pathetic, pinned to the floor by Mjolnir, in comparison to his earlier rampaging through the city. After Thor fastens a muzzle of sorts over Loki's mouth and cuffs his hands, he removes Mjolnir and grabs Loki by the arm and nods to the others before leading him to the balcony to fly off to the arranged point in Central Park.

"I'll follow them and meet you there." Anna says softly before kissing Steve on the cheek and taking flight after Thor.

Anna, Thor, and Loki stand in the area of Central Park that is being closely guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and wait for the rest of the team to arrive.

"What do you think will happen to him now?" Anna questions Thor as Loki observes his surroundings.

"Whatever father sees as fit punishment, I worry how things will impact the child." Thor replies sadly.

"I'm sure the All Father will take that into consideration, he seems to have a weak spot for the child, at least from what_ she _has shown me. And he's not yet a part of the world. I just hope they are not shunned for what he has done."

The conversation is cut short when the rest of the team shows up and gather around in a half circle.

"This is farewell then." Thor says quietly as he moves to lead Loki to the point where they will be transported using the Tesseract.

Anna grabs his arm quickly and replies, "Not farewell, see you later, I'm sure you will return for Jane soon."

Thor nods and leads Loki to the point where they will leave and lifts the container so that Loki can grab hold of it. Loki nods to Anna, which doesn't go unnoticed by Steve and Bucky. After they disappear, Bucky and Steve turn to Anna and she shakes her head.

"I'll explain later, I promise." She states before taking Steve's hand and leading him to his motorcycle getting on behind him as Bucky gets onto his.

"Where are we going?" Steve asks over his shoulder.

"Just follow Bucky, I gave him directions to my house near Xavier's School, affectionately called Mutant High by the mutants that go there."

Steve nods and starts up his bike as Anna wraps her arms around his waist and leans against his back with a small smile.

**The End…?**

_**AN:**__ There you have it, the end of The Life of Annabelle Barnes, I know it's been a long wait and it's taken me over a year, but for now it's over…until the sequel that is! Now some of you may find this strange but I got the idea to put Annabelle into the X Men universe by doing a crossover with The Last Stand (X3) movie. I know this is totally going to alter X3, but I think it's a pretty cool idea. So review and tell me what you think, any ideas and feedback are much appreciated and I will give credit if I put it in my fic. Farewell for now my lovely readers!_


End file.
